Recipe

Ratatouille Niçoise

6 servings · prep 30 min · cook 1 h 15 min

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• lunch
• dinner
• french
• vegetarian
• vegan
• summer

Authored by the maintainer; classical Niçoise method — each vegetable cooked separately, then folded together.

Ingredients

the vegetables

• 2 medium eggplants, cut into 2 cm cubes
• 3 medium zucchini, cut into 2 cm rounds
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded, cut into 3 cm strips

the base

• 2 large yellow onions, halved and sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced — Tropea allium farm
• 8 ripe plum tomatoes, blanched-peeled and roughly chopped (or 1 × 400 g tin good plum tomatoes) — Origin not credited

the cook

• 150 ml extra-virgin olive oil — Liguria olive mill
• Sea salt to taste — Trapani salt pans
• Black pepper, freshly cracked — Kerala pepper estate

the herbs

• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 2 bay leaves

the finish

• Small bunch basil, leaves torn at the end — Genovese basil

Method

1. Salt the eggplant cubes in a colander for 30 minutes. Rinse, pat dry. · 30 min
2. In a wide heavy pot, sweat the onions in 2 tbsp olive oil over medium-low heat 12 minutes until soft and translucent — no colour. Add garlic, cook 90 seconds. Lift out and reserve. · 12 min
3. Add 3 tbsp olive oil. Brown the peppers hard, 6 minutes, until charred at the edges. Reserve. · 6 min
4. Another 3 tbsp oil. Brown the zucchini, 5 minutes per side. Reserve. · 10 min
5. Another 4 tbsp oil. Brown the eggplant in two batches, 8 minutes each — eggplant drinks oil; add more if the pan goes dry. The cubes should be deep golden, almost collapsing. Reserve. · 16 min
6. In the same pot, add tomatoes, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, 1 tsp salt. Simmer 15 minutes until reduced and jammy. · 15 min
7. Fold all the reserved vegetables back into the tomato base. Simmer over the lowest heat for 25 minutes, stirring gently every few minutes. · 25 min
8. Off heat. Pull out the herb sprigs. Tear in basil leaves. Taste, adjust salt and pepper. Drizzle a final spoonful of raw olive oil over the top.

Notes

Ratatouille is best at room temperature, the next day. The vegetables
collapse into the tomato; the olive oil bonds the dish; the flavours
marry overnight. Hot ratatouille fresh from the pan is acceptable but
not the dish at its best.

Cooking each vegetable separately is the Niçoise method. A lazier
version — everything in the pot at once — produces a different dish
(waterier, more uniform, less defined). The Niçoise version is the
one Provençal grandmothers defend.

Pair with grilled fish, a poached egg on top, or — perhaps best —
cold leftover ratatouille on toast with a crumble of feta.